Phase 1 · Restore Mobility

Part of the 8 Week Yoga Program for Hip Mobility, Strength and Control

Ten Minutes for a Stiff Hip

The short practice for the days between, and for after sitting

Ten minutes, all on the floor. This is the practice for the evening after a long day in a chair and for the days between the longer sessions. It covers flexion, both rotations and extension in the smallest doses that still count. A hip changes because it gets asked often, and a short practice you actually do beats a long one you plan.

10 min · Level 1

← Back to the full program

When it helps

After a day of sitting, or on any day the thirty minute practice is not going to happen. Ten minutes. A cushion for under the knees and a blanket to sit on.

Physical effect

Flexion, external rotation, internal rotation through the twist, and one round of active extension. Four directions in ten minutes.

Function

Short enough to happen on a weekday evening, which is the only property that matters for the practice between the long ones.

Mental effect

The days you practise when you did not feel like it are the ones that build the habit.

Ten minutes

One pass through the directions a hip needs, then two minutes of nothing.

Apanasana

1 min

Knees to Chest Pose

One knee at a time to the chest, hands behind the thigh.

Flexion, at no cost, and a good read on what today is like.

Learn more about Apanasana

Ananda Balasana

1 min

Happy Baby Pose

Knees wide, hands to the shins, head down.

Happy Baby adds abduction, still with the floor doing the work.

Learn more about Ananda Balasana

Supta Kaptasana

1 min 30 sec per side

Reclining Pigeon Pose

Ankle across the thigh, draw the thigh in.

External rotation, the direction most people mean by tight hips.

Learn more about Supta Kaptasana

Baddha Konasana

1 min

Butterfly Pose

Soles together, cushions under both knees.

Bound Angle opens the inner thigh with the knees supported rather than hanging.

Learn more about Baddha Konasana

Ardha Matsyendrasana

45 sec per side

Half Lord of the Fishes

One knee across, turning from the ribs.

The twist takes the hip the other way, inward. Both rotations belong in a hip routine and only one usually gets practised.

Learn more about Ardha Matsyendrasana

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

5 lifts, 5 breaths each

Bridge Pose

Feet hip width, lift, hold, lower slowly.

Bridge is the extension and the only active pose here. Ten minutes of pure stretching would be the wrong practice for this problem.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Jathara Parivartanasana

1 min per side

Reclining Belly Twist

Knees to one side, cushion under the top knee.

The twist lets the hip go after it has worked.

Learn more about Jathara Parivartanasana

Savasana

2 min

Corpse Pose

Legs long, palms up.

Two minutes is enough for the joint to register that the practice is over.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 4

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Restore Mobility, the first phase of the 8 Week Yoga Program for Hip Mobility, Strength and Control. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

On the days between your core practices. The safety notes in the practice guide apply here as much as to the long practice.

The teacher behind this sequence

Manish Rana

Founder & Author

View profile

Go deeper into the poses

Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

Open the Asana Lab

Make it yours

Keep this practice in your library, print it for the mat, or build your own sequence from all 108 asanas.

Create a free account

All sequences

← Back to overview